聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Gordon F. Kells welcomed author Maureen Ulrich of Lampman on Wednesday, Oct. 19, to speak about her experiences.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ulrich grew up in Edmonton and Calgary, but has been living in southeast Saskatchewan following university. She worked as a teacher in Lampman, Milestone, Estevan Junior High, and Pleasantdale until retirement in 2008.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ulrich began writing for fun, outside of school assignments at a young age. She loved horses and her first stories as a young writer focused on this.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 first started writing for other people when I had become a teacher, we would need a play for drama, and it was much easier to write something depending on the numbers we got out than finding something,鈥� Ulrich explained. 鈥淪o, I started writing plays for my students.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 was a non-athlete when I was young, so it鈥檚 kind of funny how I think about how my adult life has been spent writing about sports,鈥� Ulrich told the grade seven and eight students during the presentation.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sports became a part of her life, however, starting with a love of baseball brought on by watching her husband play with the Lampman A鈥檚. Their eldest daughter would decide that she wanted to play hockey. In the 1990s girls hockey wasn鈥檛 very popular, so she played with the boys. Hockey is something that Robin has pursued and has led her to playing for the U of S Huskies for five years, acting as an assistant coach for five seasons, and now she has been named the interim head coach of the Huskies this season.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The experience of having a daughter playing what was thought to be a 鈥渂oys鈥� game,鈥� led her to write a series based on girls playing hockey.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淕irls hockey was not a big sport in the mid-90s, so I decided to write about it,鈥� Ulrich said. 鈥淭he first book, Power Plays, focuses on hockey, but it also addresses bullying. It鈥檚 about a girl, Jessie, who moves from Saskatoon to Estevan.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The second book in the series, Breakaway, sees Jessie play AAA hockey, while dealing with teenage issues such as binge drinking and the consequences surrounding that.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The series concludes with Jessie鈥檚 experiences as a grade 12 student in Face Off, which follows Jessie on the ice and looks at the topic of dating as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t took me eight years to get my first book published,鈥� Ulrich stated. Explaining that of the book sales the publisher receives about 50 percent due to their efforts in proof reading, editing, and cover development, if sold in a book store the book store receives 40 percent, and Ulrich receives about 10 percent.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 write because I love it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have stories inside me I have to tell. There are authors out there like J.K. Rowling who make good money through their writing, it is possible, but the majority write because they have a story to tell.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ulrich then spoke to the students about finding inspiration for stories and to write about places you know. Her topics vary greatly, having focused on hockey, for her first novels, the expanding to a play about 鈥淪nowbirds鈥� who travel south every winter and find themselves living next to a hit man, working an idea for a historical fiction novel set in Newfoundland after visiting the area, and a novel based in Kenya after visiting the area.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚nspiration can truly be found anywhere,鈥� Ulrich explained.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Her most recent play called 鈥淒iamond Girls鈥� was created after reading about a commemoration in Central Park in Regina for Mary Baker and the Saskatchewan women who played baseball during World War II in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) from 1943 to 1954.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The one-woman play, which starred Malia Becker of Regina, takes on the rolls of Mary Baker, Arleene Noga-Johnson, and Daisy Junor, who all played in the league.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ulrich then took the time to speak with the students about how they can become better writers: 鈥淩ead a lot. Any type of books that you like to read; read. Experience life. Pick a topic you care about. Visualize familiar places. Find other writers to share ideas with; it鈥檚 nice to have a group of people to sound things off of and get suggestions from because the other people in your life will support you, but they might not necessarily get it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Her visit to the school was enjoyed by the students.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For more information on Ulrich visit,
